Russian President, Vladimir Putin, has instructed the Russian ministries and other state agencies to establish official ties with counterpart agencies in breakaway South Ossetia and Abkhazia, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on April 16.

The Russian state agencies have been instructed to:

Cooperate with counterpart agencies in Abkhazia and South Ossetia;

Organize cooperation in trade-economic; social; scientific; cultural fields, including with involvement in the process Russia’s regions;

Define list of documents issued by Abkhaz and South Ossetian state agencies to individuals, that will be recognized by the counterpart state agencies of the Russian Federation;

Recognize legal entities, registered by the laws of Abkhazia and South Ossetia;

To provide legal assistance in the field of civil, family and criminal law;

Russian Foreign Ministry’s local representations in the Krasnodar district (at the Abkhaz border) and in Russia’s North Ossetian Republic (at the border with South Ossetia) will perform, if necessary, functions of consulates to provide assistance to residents of Abkhazia and South Ossetia;

“Implementation of these instructions by the President will allow creating mechanisms for comprehensive protection of rights, freedoms and legal interests of the Russian citizens residing in Abkhazia and South Ossetia,” the Russian Foreign Ministry’s statement reads.